Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 1: "Winterfell" {Initial Reactions}

Title wasn't revealed 'til after it aired? Odd. It's hardly a spoiler. :P =,= Could be that some of the later ones are, so they're just not gonna reveal any ahead of time. Well, the premiere was thrilling and fast-paced but not yet shocking for the most part, thanks to everything that's been pieced together from all the promo material (which was obviously pulled from or referring primarily to it), and also the leak I couldn't resist reading. Crammed a lot in, ticked a lotta boxes

So of course it opens with the arrival of Team Jonerys at Winterfell...Arya's different looks at Jon/Dany, Sandor, Gendry, and the dragons (<3!) were a highlight. Even more so, Varys & Tyrion. XD Forget prequels, give us a spinoff centered around that comedic duo. (It'd have to be set during earlier times, though, as I'm sure both won't survive. Varys in particular is marked for death. I do not look forward to it. I've had a deep fondness for him since Season 1. Criminally underappreciated is he. Adore Tyrion as well.)

"Almost." So Bran's not quite a man grown, and/or not entirely human anymore. ;p Defo the latter. 8| His new thing is sitting in the courtyard (tellin' me how I'm such a fool--no wait) staring creepily at people. However, thanks be to him for finally being proactively useful and informing Dany of Viserion's fate, plus the imminence of the threat they're facing.
Dany was exceedingly warm and friendly to a frosty Sansa, as we well been knew. Ugh. Honestly. Stfu, Sansa. Stfu, Lyanna! I've been sick and tired of this bull for weeks knowing it was coming. "Whatever they want." -boom- *SNAP* "Maybe you, Sansa." Mmmmhmmm. I mean, like they were gonna ride their army north with no clue what they intended to eat...?? Whatever they've been eating all along that's rarely been necessary to mention, one presumes? Plus there's no way Sansa was unaware of when and why they were coming; it wasn't sprung on her at the last possible minute, they won't be there all that long before the great battle arrives, and procuring desperately-needed materials and allies was Jon's entire express purpose in having headed south IN THE FIRST GD PLACE...! Fuck did you expect?! What do you want?? Death? Why hasn't their stinking food been discussed all along, why is it suddenly this big deal we're meant to assume they don't have—just to give pissy, petulant Sansa something to whinge about in regard to the thousands of people who are arriving prepared to die defending her home? To hell with her. Istg. Haven't liked her since S1 and the final season isn't shaping up brilliantly for her. She can still turn it around though...but I ain't holding my breath. Phuh. Anyway.

So those who've underestimated Sansa and are dead now...aren't really dead thanks to any especially commendable thing she did and her survival's been mostly on luck and the actions of others, but okay, she's got a point regarding Tyrion's trust in Cersei.
Also probably should've let poor Tyrion know how she was whisked away from KL after the Purple Wedding and wasn't just deliberately leaving him there holding the goblet, looking guilty as sin (not that this particular murder was sinful. ;), instead of helping to defend both their innocence.

That Arya/Jon reunion!! ;W; Beautiful. Same hug with her off the ground. Wonder who told her of his fatal stabbing. (Well, lots of basic information has obviously been communicated offscreen...)
Although, Jon thought it was gonna be like old times, but all of a sudden Arya's defending Sansa instead of commiserating about her. "The smartest person I've ever met?" Yuh-huh, sure. Come on, girl, now you're actin' fulla shite. Let's not talk out our asses. ;p She hasn't earned all this aggrandizement. Sansa may have learned from both Cersei and Littlefinger, but she has more in common with the former--neither is as smart as she thinks she is.
Arya and Dany SHOULD get along swimmingly if they had more time to get to know one another. And Arya also should know that Jon wouldn't forget his Starkiness (even if it's less than currently thought!)

Now away to King's Landing...Qyburn's like, "The dead have broken through the Wall! ...This is good?"
"Someone cheated." I am seriously commencing to like Euron. xD What an enjoyable villain. He's not boring; you gotta give him that!
Maybe we can guess at Cersei's favorite Disney movie now, because she is severely let down by the lack of elephants. I'm disappointed too, Cers. Nearly felt sorry for her for a minute there. She's still rocking the Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie haircut, clearly to show that her humiliation didn't actually bother her and she in fact digs this look.
Paw Euwan! ;3; His queen's breaking his heart, and his balls--until she decides to play slightly more on the safe side and give him a chance to win her over with his insolent arrogance. Which seems to work. Only, DOES she already (or still) have a "prince" cooking...from Jaime? ;-x (Have they any awareness of the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome?? Did she simply decline to drink with Tyrion last season, but that wasn't meant as a tip-off?)

"DON'T DO IT BRONN. ...He's gonna do it, innee? Or at least try...?" Pretty much what I was saying aloud. Damn! No wonder we "might not like Bronn so much" this season. Had no idea how Marei was going to show up in the first episode, but there ya go. See, Shae, we don't need you around to have funny whores. We can have this trio chatting about the remains or burnt-off eyelids of Lannister boys. Very lulzy scene. Bronn's choke--"which girl?" The one who offered Qyburn her services...might sound gross, and with Pycelle it totally was, but let's be real. Qyburn is a cute-looking, not unattractive older gentleman. ;p He's grateful to Cersei for taking him in and making him Hand, buuuuut I'd like to see him turn on her at some point. :\ Those fookin' Lannisters!! Can Bronn bring himself to kill Tyrion and Jaime in exchange for his desire? Will he maybe not get a chance before the first great battle begins, and wind up having to just fight for his life? *nailbiting*

GO THEON! How did I possibly *not* think it was him entering Yara's prison-room there? He sneaked up on me. The rescue was quick, thought it might be more difficult--but I knew it had to be gotten out of the way early on. Definitely needed to be accomplished by the second ep. So he receives an appropriate thank-you consisting of a sock to the face and then a hand-up. Figures that he wants to head north to aid the Starks in battle. He does owe them. Not entirely sure how we're liking his odds of survival though. Now I suppose Yara will retreat from the story unless/until the main group DOES need the Iron Islands? Maybe she'll turn up again at the end.

Davos has a sensible idea (would be terrific if Jon & Dany weren't related!) A joint rulership between a just woman and an honorable man. Would be kinda nice for a change, eh?
Aw Varys, y'all ain't that old. Which isn't undesirable anyway. I myself have always preferred the elder gents...*ahem* Dany & Jon might well have been fine with this idea, prior to the big revelation coming out. And even THEN...how will Dany take the news? For so long her driving purpose has been taking the throne that's rightfully hers. To have that torn from under her will undoubtedly be a huge blow. BUT. She loves Jon. Hasn't smiled so much in a long time. Jon doesn't WANT the bloody throne at any rate. I can so easily see him just ceding it to her, and filling some small council position. All this drama bein' for nothin'.;p

Paw dwagons! Dany casually gets on and does the sexy shoulder thing. Jon's all awkward. And they do the flight from the trailer, where people knew that the riders had been edited out. Aaannnd, that was awesome. Roller coaster! Gimme a mf dragon NOW. I'd ride without a moment's hesitation. One of my greatest wishes is a personal flight device, and a living one would be even cooler.
Could see where that would ruin horses a little. The flight was sort of a genderswapped Whole New World, with two separate magic carpets (who are daring Aladdin to try anything funny with Jasmine. 'Cause she's their mama. Drogon's staredown!! XDD) Or a Buckbeak 'sperience for Jon. Also, Dany's encouragement conveys that anyone can "pilot" a dragon if said dragon is willing and/or the Targaryen rider expresses the wish for it. You can really see the color and size difference between Drogon and Rhaegal when they land by the pertiful waterfall. I like Rhaegal's green. Nice romantic little moment except for a) the Night King would probably find y'all right quick and b) BRAN TELL HIM ALREADY JFC.
Can't see him being down with having engaged in incest, and while it might still seem like nbd to her (having grown up assuming she'd marry her bro), I think she's sufficiently different from her ancestors that she certainly wouldn't be delighted by it.

The Arya/Gendry shipping pot is being stirred. Her order of a dragonglass weapon made for a cute lil scene. The Hound's got himself a big old obsidian axe now, plus a grudging respect for the "cold little bitch" whom I'm hoping winds up helping/saving him somehow during the battles to come.
*cough Cleganebowl get hype cough cough*
And give the Hound EFC: Every Fucking Chicken.

Fuck that Lord Glover. See, Jon's reasoning...of course he bent the knee out of love and gratitude and respect and admiration. It wasn't purely logical, but seemed the thing for him to do after she lost a dragon rescuing their sorry asses. Yes, she'd just promised that they'd work together to defeat the dead ANYway. But he's still right, if those goat-stubborn boobs would just get it through their thick heads that it doesn't fucking matter who holds what title. You named him king (against his own wishes), and a king has the power to use his own judgment and submit to a queen if it seems like a smart move. Now she's like, 200% committed to you guys. She's a queen you'd want. But yes, keep attempting to somehow spin the world's strongest army and two fire-breathing dragons as a raw deal for you. She doesn't have to try and save your ungrateful snotty hides. She’d be fully within her rights to say “fuck y’all,” pack up and peace out to take care of herself, her armies, her pursuit of the throne or return to an extant rulership in Essos.
I get the loyalty and tradition and all that, but ffs, this isn't a normal situation, and if you truly trust your chosen king Jon, then you should by extension be at least willing to let his chosen queen earn your trust. Maybe he could have said “Let’s paint a pretty picture of you for the northern lords and THEN I’ll bend the knee with some warning,” but who ever called him the wisest guy around?

Okay okay, we can modify a little bit here. It *is* probably in Dany's own self-interest to link forces with the North and attempt to defeat the AotD before it expands. It's not a normal army; the more people it slaughters, the bigger it gets. So if Dany doesn't want to rule a continent of undead, she would need to focus on eliminating this threat (at least returning in the nick of time after scaring the northern assholes shitless.) She could kind of ignore everybody else, commanding and being concerned only with her troops. She could let other people fight and then swoop over to burn the bodies (after practicing those evasive aerial maneuvers and getting some damn armor), and/or try to roast the NK himself.

Daenerys risked all and lost a dragon-child in the process of rescuing Jon & co. beyond the wall. She's put her ambition on hold yet again in the face of mankind's possible annihilation--unlike a certain southern queen whose plan is evidently to just hole up and deal with whatever's left. And if what's left is overwhelming numbers of undead people? I suppose she'd do what she nearly did with Tommen at Blackwater, satisfied simply to have been the last living ass on the fucking throne. Dany could probably fuck off back to Essos and resume ruling there, giving up Westeros for lost...hoping that the AotD would be unable to cross the Narrow Sea, and/or defeatable by the large continent of Essos. But yeah, Jon willingly bent the knee after he already had Dany's pledge to defeat the NK together. That speaks volumes on his feelings for and opinion of her. Dany is the kind of queen from whom you needn't WANT independence! Yeah, she's been set on reclaiming "the Seven Kingdoms," and the North's a big one...understandable that she wouldn't want to relinquish it just because...the jerks asked? There's a dumb bitch there who wants her to because "we want to rule ourselves" (aka "I want to rule them and btw, make the North great again." Sansa's qualification being an Associates in PoliSci from CerseiFinger U, the school of backstabbing.) Everybody can't become separate again, as historically; that way lies chaos.

In burning the Tarlys, Dany played by a generous version of the traditional rules. Especially at that time she felt pressure to turn the tide and make strides toward securing the throne--and I can't blame her for thinking that playing perfectly by idealistic standards or your own ideal principles and desired rule changes would fail to get you the chance to ultimately change anything at all.
Your other option is to take them prisoner. *JonTron voice* "You could! You could do that...but why, why would you do that?" You need to find a line between showing your willingness to be merciful, and your willingness to use force when pushed (and boy, was she ever pushed!) Those nincompoops betrayed the amazing Olenna, her ally, for the wicked Cersei. Isn't this kinda how war works? She didn't slaughter the whole army, or even jump straight to this battle in the first place. She'd been patient and generous and was getting screwed over. She offered the two men a win-win situation in which, as D&D themselves said, they somehow stupidly managed to find the "lose." It's valid for her advisors to fear people seeing her as a tyrant by spinning this, but to seriously view it as a stepping stone to tyranny holds her to an unfair standard. At any rate she couldn't possibly be worse than Cersei unless they thrust her drastically out-of-character or out of her mind.

Sam and Dany meet...hm, what was he doing when they arrived, why hadn't he and Jon reunited already? Such a sweet start, but then catch Sam overreacting to the fate of Dickon & Randyll. Pretty much Dickon. (Still can't say that without snickering. Randyll was a cruel, cruel man. Now gimme summa that Kentucky Fried Dickon!) I mean, c'mon my dude. Your dad was one of the biggest pieces of shit in the seven kingdoms, traitorous scum...and Dick was just dumb. Thanks, Dan. It's a shock, to be sure. But now you get to be Lord of Horn Hill! If ya'd like. <:-} Oh wait, unless the maester/NW thing disqualifies you; then Idk, your mum'd be Lady?? Anyhow, didn't think that executing prisoners who refused your reasonable, even generous, offer would be such a sticking point. (Would it have even been brought up again on the show had anybody else done it?) Then again, maybe for someone like Sam it sorta is, and it -was- predicted that they'd use this to feed the Jon/Dany split. Guess there's the principle of the matter--Dany didn't know just how big a douchebag Randyll was, and Dickon especially didn't really *deserve* it even though he stupidly chose it for his stupid self. He was the one that couldn't just be laughed off with "At least I'll be allowed home." They were half his family, despite the lack of love on the paternal side. At this moment he discovers that any chance of any sort of resolutions there is gone. Luckily he still has (for now!) the people he cares for most--Gilly, Little Sam, his mom & sis. Gilly didn't make an appearance yet, but she's safe for the moment (and will evidently be in the crypts during the fighting.)

But yeah, hopefully they'll consider Daenerys' position at the time and understand her decision. The Tarlys made their choice. She didn't want to tell Sam, but knew it was the right thing to do. Maybe she can agree to be more willing to take less-than-cooperative prisoners on occasion; Tyrion and Varys would also find that approach more pragmatic. (I mean, they should've told her as much already.) They're going for "historian Sam wonders what a little blip like this could indicate for the future of her reign," which I won't hold against him despite my fear of Dany becoming a mad tyrant being close to nil. I get his upset, and the immediate response of "Oh you're that kind of leader," but it's as if he forgot everything else he knows of her. And as I've also said a million times, IF Dany does go mad, I would fully expect it to be for reasons beyond her control.

Sooo, that led straight into the big reveal to Jon, finafuckingly. Sam stumbles painfully into the crypt (did they use up their comedy quota for the season in the first episode?! Might've had to.) Dun dun dun, Jon Snow's Aegon Targaryen. Dun dun dun, he's the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms and heir to the Iron Throne. Dun. Dun. DUN.
Poor Jon kept trying to be all light and fun and friendly with people, but it just wasn't to be. xD;

"I'VE ALWAYS HAD BLUE EYES!" In a very dangerous position over at Last Hearth, Tormund+Beric+Edd and co. give us a horror-movie-style scene. Little Lord Umber's pinned to the wall at the center of a spiral of bloody severed limbs. Mmm. As Tormund speaks, you see the eyes open behind him, and then comes the screeching and Beric has to stab him and the spiral goes up in flames and :O 'Tis a message. But all's that can be said is, the horses better last.
Lastly, mah boi Jaime arrives, hops off his horse, and is immediately locked into the three-eyed raven's stare. But it's generally expected that Bran will dismiss the push as something that was necessary or fated to happen, while certain other people may not do so as easily once/if they learn. He may be referring to Jaime as his "friend" for inadvertently setting him on his path. ;p (Unless Theon is the "old friend?") In any event, next week will surely lead off with Jaime. Apparently Viserys had had plans for the kingslayer--although don't you imagine Dany then shifting her tone, considering what Jaime will have to say for himself and what she knows of Aerys? ;p Jaime's going to be accepted into their forces, clearly. Whatever he's done, they still want/need his help even if the dragonpit-summit truce is over. Same thing with Theon.

They'll learn of Cersei's betrayal, Dany & Sansa will talk...there'll be Arya's "I look forward to seeing this one" quote...sympathetic Dany visiting broody Jon in the crypts, Dany shutting her eyes, all these other shots from the trailer that was mainly the first two eps. So how will everybody react to the Aegon revelation--if it's out, yet, and believed? That oughta be the second ep. But then, it looks as if they'll run out of time and have to start practicing/readying for battle? The Grey Worm/Missandei kiss, Jorah on his horse with Heartsbane (presumably?) Does episode 2 end with a massive arrival-of-the-walkers cliffhanger? Because we know that episode 3 and possibly some of 4 is the kee-razy "Battle of Winterfell," but #3 isn't supposed to be *all* battle, so I didn't expect it to *start* with battle? But we'll have to see how that all plays out."How long do we have before the sun comes up tomorrow?" :@@@
"The sun'll come out, tomorrow..." 
If Dany is going to have a baby, that may have to wait 'til the latter half of the eps.

Were Brienne and Pod even in this one? She was standing behind Sansa in the still of her meeting Daenerys, so she must've been present with no lines, but I didn't even notice her. Sure she'll be vouching for Jaime (along with Tyrion & Bran, likely?) We were supposed to see Edmure and Robin according to that early cast list that was purported to likely be correct, but it was inaccurate since it also indicated Melisandre would be in the premiere. Obviously she and the Night King will be back in #3 at the latest. I suppose Edmure and Robin (with Lord Royce) will turn up at some point, probably briefly. Jaqen, Daario, and Meera also feel like people who could pop in again before it's all said and done. Oh, and it goes without saying we're gonna get some Ghost+Nymeria wolfpack action goin' on.

Anyhoo. We haven't lost anyone yet, but we're only the shortest intro episode into the season. It was bound to be all this table-setting that you could see coming.
The pace is urgent now; there's no more room for anything remotely resembling filler. The threat that's been looming for years is finally bearing down upon them all. I'm thinking that from the third episode on, it'll be almost wholly unpredictable. And thank the Lord of Light those eps will be longer. Let's just erase every other day of the week through the end of May.

"What do dragons eat, anyway?" "McGillicuddys."
  "And gems. Can't forget gems!"--Spike